The Outlier Lab

FBI updates its warning on government and law enforcement impersonation scams

The FBI counted nearly 61,000 complaints and over $1.6 billion lost to government and law enforcement impersonation from January 2025 to July 2026, some using AI video calls.

What happened

On September 17, 2026, the FBI published PSA I-091726-PSA, updating a March 2022 warning about criminals impersonating US and foreign law enforcement and government officials. Contact usually starts with a spoofed call, text or email. The pretexts include a pending arrest, a missed jury summons or court date, an expiring passport or license, and threats to a medical practitioner's license. Scammers targeting foreign nationals, international students and specific ethnic communities threaten extradition or passport cancellation, sometimes with fake uniforms or staged official settings. The FBI says scammers now use AI, including on video calls, to look credible, and that they tell victims not to contact family, banks or police.

The PSA breaks down IC3 complaints from January 2025 to July 2026:

PretextComplaintsReported losses
All government and law enforcement impersonationNearly 61,000Over $1.6 billion
Foreign or diplomatic official1,809Over $140 million
Medical practitioner license3,322Over $37 million
Jury duty or missed court date6,833Nearly $36 million
Expiring passport or license496Over $348,000

The payment methods named are prepaid cards, couriers, bank wires, cryptocurrency and cash deposited into cryptocurrency kiosks.

Two weeks later, on October 1, the FTC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking whether its Impersonation Rule should reach search, social media and marketplace platforms whose ad tools help impersonators find victims. The notice cites nearly $3.5 billion in imposter-scam losses reported to the FTC in 2025, and comments are due November 30, 2026.

Why it matters for transaction fraud teams

The foreign-official pretext averages roughly $77,000 per complaint by the PSA's numbers, far above the jury-duty pretext at about $5,000. Those large losses come out of savings and investment accounts, so banks and brokerages see a liquidation, a large cash withdrawal or a first wire to a new payee, often from a customer who will not explain why. In practice, a customer saying they were told not to involve the bank is among the strongest Scam Victim Indicators, and the FBI describes that instruction as standard for this scam.

Cash and couriers move the payment off every rail that fraud teams score. Once the customer has the cash, the withdrawal was the last decision point. Kiosks have the same effect: the bank sees a cash withdrawal, and the crypto leg happens elsewhere.

Retailers sit on the prepaid-card path. A high-value prepaid or gift card purchase by a customer on the phone is the Gift Card Fraud pattern that cashier prompts and purchase limits were built for.

AI video weakens one of the few checks victims try on their own, asking to see the officer. Customer education should say plainly that a video call with someone in uniform proves nothing and that no agency collects payment by prepaid card, crypto or courier (Generative AI and Deepfake Fraud).

What to do now

  • Add the PSA's pretexts (warrant, jury duty, license expiry, medical license, foreign official or extradition) to scam intervention Members scripts and payment-purpose prompts.
  • Route large cash withdrawals, liquidations and first wires to new payees to a scam conversation when the customer declines to give a reason or mentions being told to keep it quiet.
  • Flag first-time payments to crypto exchanges or kiosk operators by customers with no prior crypto activity, and size the volume before turning on friction.
  • Retailers and gift card programs: review cashier prompts and per-transaction limits for prepaid card purchases, and train staff on the "customer on the phone" cue.
  • Update Customer Education and Scam Warnings to cover video calls, and offer it in the languages of communities named in the PSA. Use education for these groups and avoid adding friction based on nationality.
  • Capture courier descriptions, pickup addresses and crypto addresses in case notes so IC3 referrals are usable.
  • Brief front-line staff using Support Team Fraud Training material, since the victim has often been told the bank is part of the problem.

What to watch

  • Comments on the FTC's platform ANPRM, due November 30, and whether the FTC moves to a proposed rule.
  • Growth of AI-assisted video in impersonation complaints, and whether banks begin seeing the same technique used to impersonate their own staff.
  • New limits on crypto kiosk transactions, which could push victims back toward wires and couriers.

Sources

Updates

  • 2026-10-26: Published.